In Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies, Ann Hornaday provides a pleasantly calm, eminently sensible, down-the-middle primer for the movie loveramateur, professional or Twitter-centric oratorwho would like to acquire and sharpen basic viewing skills.
The New York Times Book Review - Lisa Schwarzbaum
04/03/2017 Washington Post film critic Hornaday’s new book gives the reader tools for watching films more intentionally and with more discerning taste. Breaking down a film into separate components—screenplay, acting, production design, cinematography, editing, sound and music, and direction—she emphasizes the importance of taking a critical perspective. In each section she poses several key questions for readers to ask themselves: in the screenplay section, “Did the story ‘want’ to be a movie?”, and under production design, “Are the colors helping to tell the story, or are they providing quote marks around emotions and information that are already perfectly clear?” For direction, “Whose eyes did we see the world through?” Together these highlight both the project’s value and its chief flaw: systematically evaluating films requires a toolset like the one Hornaday provides, but also a level of active engagement many viewers are not accustomed to. Further emphasis could have been placed on this challenge, though Hornaday does state, “The days of passive viewing are over.” Her philosophy is that nothing happens in filmmaking by accident, and so “the least the rest of us can do is notice.” Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, ICM/Sagalyn. (June)
2017-04-02 A film critic for the Washington Post offers advice on watching movies.Hornaday isn't the first to write a primer about critically assessing films instead of subjectively responding to them as simply good or bad. Avoiding critical jargon, she hopes to guide novice viewers into "appreciating movies more fully when they succeed, and for explaining their missteps when they fall short." She has conducted extensive interviews with film folk over the years, which adds an informed, insider's quality to her discussions. Hornaday smartly divides the book into seven sections: screenwriting, acting, production design, cinematography, editing, sound and music, and directing. Within each section, the author poses a number of questions that she then answers ("where was the camera and why was it there?"), giving the book an unfortunate textbook quality. The narrative is also heavily prescriptive. Hornaday is quick to give her likes and dislikes: "I've never loved the films of Alejandro González Iñárritu…credibility might be the chief problem." On acting, "the most fundamental element of cinematic grammar," she cites John Sayles: "casting the right actors is easily 90 percent of the [director's] job." But mistakes are made. Cameron Diaz was "fatally miscast" in The Gangs of New York. One of the stronger sections is production design, often overlooked by general moviegoers. It encompasses backdrops, locations, sets, props, costumes, hair, and makeup. Done well, writes the author, it establishes "the overall look of a film, the sense of richness, texture, and detail." In the cinematography section, Hornaday confesses that one of the "few things I truly despise in life…[is] 3-D." She was "awed" by Sandra Adair's editing work in Boyhood; Raging Bull and GoodFellas are "masterpieces of editing and rhythm." The section on sound and music is also good, the one on directing poor, and because the author's picks are very American-centric, the book's scope is limited. If uninspiring, this is a user-friendly, nonintimidating guide to appreciating movies.
"Hornaday, a movie critic for The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, offers a primer on everything about filmmaking, from casting to sound edits to production design. Along the way, she includes tidbits from her interviews with actors and directors, helpful questions to keep in mind when watching films and recommended viewing lists. The resulting book is a sensible, middle-of-the-road guide for amateurs and movie buffs alike."—New York Times Book Review "[An] illuminating new book for anyone who wants more from the movies than popcorn and thrills." —Washington Post "Hornaday has written a highly readable treatise on the sinew and bones of filmmaking.... If you really are serious about the films you take time and money to see, Talking Pictures will make your celluloid education an ongoing pleasure."—Providence Journal "[Hornaday] offers her insights, opinions and finely tuned observations on actors and acting, camera work, editing, sound and music, and the other elements of filmand how they can all combine to truly make a movie good, bad or just so-so."—Parade "Ann Hornaday provides a pleasantly calm, eminently sensible, down-the-middle primer for the movie loveramateur, professional or Twitter centric oratorwho would like to acquire and sharpen basic viewing skills." —New York Times Book Review "For people who go to the movies and (even better) like talking about them afterward, Talking Pictures is a must-have. For those of us who study and write about the movies, it's a reminder of why we bother."—Popmatters "Talking Pictures is like enrolling in a master class on the art of cinematic parsingand is a lot cheaper than signing up for a college course. It is also more fun since Hornaday wisely employs quotes and anecdotes from a wide range of major talents both in front of and behind the camera, many taken from interviews she has done over the years."—Buffalo News "A master class in filmmaking and a celebration of why we love movies."—Booklist "Ann Hornaday knows movies, but more importantly, she knows how to write about movies for a diverse readership. This book is an extension of that essential talent, a clear-eyed assessment of what makes this art form so engaging and how to ask hard questions of it. Anyone remotely intrigued by the filmmaking process will learn something new about itI know I didand come away with a fresh toolkit for debating movies old and new. Hornaday's book is a quintessential reminder that movies are a major art form, and it's a must-read for anyone who feels the same way."—Eric Kohn, chief critic , Indiewire "In this essential book Ann Hornaday explores the unique alchemy of filmmaking through its various disciplines, and manages to explain the unexplainable. With clarity and compassion she demystifies the brilliance of Groundhog Day , breaks down how the editor on a film is the audience's chief surrogate, and ultimately puts her finger on what we crave every time the lights go down in a movie theater: 'the singular joy that comes from authentic human connection.' This book is a true gift to all filmmakers and film lovers." —Albert Berger , Academy Award-nominated producer of Nebraska, Cold Mountain, and Little Miss Sunshine, among others